Of Bad Birthdays and Fates
by Forever-Fangirl-PJO-HP
Summary: In which Percy has a not so great start to his birthday,it may lead to something else -OR- the fates work in mysterious ways, for the worst and for the better. AU. All human.


**A/N: Hey guys! So this my latest story and it's for Percy's Birthday! **

**It's my attempt at a long one shot, and I hope I did okay. Since it is for Percy's birthday it is pretty fluffy, but I wanted to try it out. **

**Anyway here ya go:**

The fates must hate him. In fact he was sure they did. Percy was having a bad day, a really bad day. And to make it worse, it was his birthday. He knew it wasn't a good day the moment he woke up to a blast of cold air that surprised him so much he fell off his bed, and hit his head on the hard floor. Then the bathroom had flooded an inch which resulted in a complaint for the front desk. And the hotel staff, took an hour to figure out the problem and fix it. By then he was already running late.

Going down for breakfast, he ran into an older woman who screamed at him for ten minutes straight, even after he apologized. Not to mention he barely understood a word, he was fluent in Greek, but this woman was screaming at him at the top of her lungs, she was speaking so fast he doubted whether he would understand even if she had been yelling in English. He somehow managed to get away from her.

Which led to him spilling scalding hot coffee over himself. He was sure he had gotten third degree burns from that. And racing into a taxi of some sort he barely got to see the view outside as the driver rushed through the Greek traffic causing him to almost throw up his small breakfast.

He arrived at the nearby college late, with messed up hair, coffee stained clothes, wet shoes, and a slight dizziness. He went to the lecture hall...to find it empty. He groaned, no classes today. How had he forgotten?

His head was still hurting from his morning fall, so he took a seat at one of the chairs and put his face in his hands. He wished he was home, with his mother, she would have blue chocolate chip cookies for him. He really liked blue chocolate chip cookies.

When he had signed up for the three week summer transfer program he had been too excited to realize that his birthday was going to fall right in the middle of it. Not that he regretted it, it had been an amazing experience up until then and Greece was a great country.

But today, on his birthday of all days, things had to go wrong. He was sure the fates were against him. There was no other reasonable explanation for why he had to be having a crappy day.

A voice broke him out of his self-pity session.

"Are you okay?" the voice said in perfect english, without a hint of an accent. Percy looked up to find a girl standing at the end of the stairs a few feet away from him. She had curly blonde hair and analytical grey eyes. She was a new face, he was sure he hadn't seen her before. He felt as though he would remember if he had, as cliche as it sounds. Not just for her beauty but the...vibe..she seemed to emanate.

"Yeah, I'm fine," it came out more sarcastic than he had intended. Before he could open his mouth to fix his mistake she laughed,

"I see that," she said taking in his appearance, disheveled hair, stained clothes and all.

Percy was suddenly a bit embarrassed by his appearance at the moment, which was weird as he was not one to get embarrassed easily.

"Good, glad we agree," he said instead, sullenly, remembering why he was in his current state.

"Why are you here? There are no classes today," she walked over to him and sat down on the seat next to his.

This girl was decidedly different. Percy thought that he liked her.

"I'm aware," he said again, sarcasm seeping into his voice without meaning too, again.

"Wow, somebody's sarcastic," she remarked drily.

Percy shook his head apologetically, "Sorry, I didnt mean for it to come out that way. I've had a rough morning."

The girl nodded sympathetically, "I'm assuming you forgot you had class today?"

Percy nodded. They sat in silence for a moment and Percy wondered why the girl was here, she obviously knew there was no classes today. But just as he opened his mouth to ask her she stood up, a bit abruptly.

"Let's go," her voice sounded loud as it bounced through the large room.

"What?" Percy was surprised.

"Let's go," she repeated.

"Where?" he asked.

"To make your day better," she said decisively. Percy started at her a moment, she seemed genuine, and was looking at him expectantly. He got up. He decided that this girl was certainly something.

Around fifteen minutes later Percy found himself sitting in front of her in a small but comfy cafe nearby.

"I dont even know your name," Percy told her as they waited for the waitress to come by.

"Annabeth," she replied offhandedly.

"I'm Percy," he offered, she smiled and nodded before turning back to the menu. And when the waitress arrived, she ordered in perfect greek. Percy followed suit, and as the waitress left Annabeth turned to Percy with a look of approval.

"Your Greek is really good," she complemented.

"Thanks, yours too," he replied. The thought brought him back to the point that he had not seen her before.

"I haven't seen you before," he started to say, not sure how to phrase his question. Luckily she understood and answered it right away.

"I'm an architecture major, we usually have classes that are unique to architecture so we don't see too much of the other broader classes. And we are almost all Columbia students, we don't have that many NYU kids," she explained.

He looked at her surprised. How had she known he went to NYU? Was she psychic.

"Your shirt says NYU, so I assumed..." Annabeth spoke again.

Yep, she was psychic. And was he? He looked down at his shirt and sure enough it had the NYU logo. But she was still psychic for knowing he was about to ask that.

"How did you know I was going to ask that?" he looked at her befuddled.

"You just looked confused, and the fact that I stated the name of your college without you teling me, made me think that you were confused about that." she shrugged as their food came.

Percy was sure his day was getting better when he took a bite out of his food. Not only was it delicious but he was also starving. Conversation ceased as the two students ate hungrily.

Only when all the food was done and the bill paid, and they were walking back to the university did it pick up again.

"Thank you, for showing me that place, the food is great," Percy said to her as they walked along.

"No problem, I was hungry too," she replied. Percy didn't know what to make of this girl. She had taken it upon herself to 'make his day better' as she had said and then had showed him this awesome cafe. And they didn't even know each other's names until they had gotten to the restaurant.

"Well thanks anyway, it was really the best part of my day. I don't think I've ever had that crappy of a birthday till now," he ended thoughtfully.

Her mouth opened a bit in shock,

"It's your birthday?" she asked looking at him as if she had just discovered something completely new.

"Um..yeah?" he said rubbing the back of his neck.

She rose an eyebrow, "Is that a question or an answer?"

"Answer," he confirmed.

"Happy Birthday Percy," she said smiling. Percy smiled back, when he thought about it, she was the first person to wish him all day.

"Thank you, you're the first to wish me," he decided to tell her the small detail. She smiled wider as if that was an accomplishment. She had a really pretty smile, he thought.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, and once they had reached there they stood outside a bit awkwardly.

"So what are your plans?" Annabeth asked him. He thought for a moment, he really didn't have any...except for a new change of clothes.

"Um, not much. I want to change out of this," he gestured to the stained shirt. "But after that, nothing really."

"Have you been sight seeing yet?" she asked him curiously. Percy shook his head. He really hadn't, he had been too busy with classes and the jet lag made him to tired to explore.

"Neither have I, want to?" Annabeth offered. He may have been imagining it but she seemed a bit nervous.

"Sure," he agreed grinning.

And for the first time in one and a half weeks he thought he had truly made a friend.

-LINEBREAK-

Percy stepped out of the now dry bathroom with a new set of clothes and comparatively less messy hair.

Annabeth nodded in approval.

"Now you look like a decent human being," she said teasingly.

He frowned at her, trying to hide the small smile that was tugging at the edge of his lips.

"Oh, quit being a baby, come on, lets go," she motioned and they exited the hotel quickly.

"Where do you want to go first?" she asked. he shrugged, it didn't really matter where they went, as long as he had company. Well...her company.

"Parthenon it is then," she said decidedly.

One thing Percy found out a little while later was that Annabeth LOVED architecture, and that she was ridiculously smart. Once they had arrived at the Parthenon, she had immediately started examining it with her analytical grey eyes.

"And it was made around 447 BC for the Greek goddess Athena," she listed off.

Percy followed her as they walked around, and he might have been watching her a little more than the parthenon. Her eyes lit up when she talked about it, you could tell she was very passionate. And she smiled a lot too, showing her cute dimple on the left side of her cheek.

They ended up seeing a lot more of the ancient Greek architecture. And Percy had to admit, it was very cool. The sights were beautiful and as you neared them, it was like seeing a piece of history. As if you could feel the power and aura of the ancient Greek gods. Percy had always liked Greek mythology, ever since he was little his mom had told him stories. Even his name sake Perseus was a Greek hero. And much to Percy's surprise and delight, Annabeth was interested in Greek mythology as well.

"You could be the daughter of Athena," he joked. Annabeth smiled,

"I could be...but what about you?"

They went through a lot, Hermes, Apollo, Hephaestus (to which Percy said that he was much better at breaking things than fixing them) before finally resting on Poseidon as Percy's love for water became apparent.

They finally decided to relax and take a break as evening came on. They sat down on a bench on a small path that overlooked most of Athens. It was a spectacular sight.

"One day, I want to design something as amazing as this," Annabeth said softly gesturing to the city below them.

"I know you will," Percy replied. And he really truly believed it. Percy had only known Annabeth for a day, but through the jokes, laughter and sarcasm he felt as though he had known her longer.

Annabeth turned to Percy, her eyes sparkling,

"Really, how do you know?" she teased lightly.

"I happen to be a son of Poseidon, I know," he said importantly.

Annabeth laughed, "But what's that got to do with-" he cut her off.

"A son of Poseidon, who happens to be close to Apollo, he told me himself that he has foreseen it," he continued smiling.

Annabeth laughed again,

"Percy, you're ridiculous," she said, but she was smiling softly...almost affectionately. Her face shined golden in the setting sun.

It was ridiculous, Percy agreed, how quickly he was falling for this girl.

-LINEBREAK-

"This has to be the best birthday ever," Percy said as they were once more walking towards the university after leaving the ancient city and grabbing a bite to eat. "Thank you."

Annabeth shook her head, "No need to thank me, I'm glad you had a good birthday after all."

"Great," he corrected, "I had a great birthday, and it's all thanks to you."

"I guess, I'm pretty amazing aren't I," she joked. He mentally agreed that she is, out loud he said,

"Dont get too full of yourself."

Annabeth laughed along with him. They has reached the university. They just stood outside the gates for a second.

"Well...I guess I'll see ya later," Annabeth said, a bit hesitantly. This was weird to see considering Annabeth was usually so confident but Percy filled it in pretty quickly.

"Of course, see ya tomorrow," he confirmed giving her a smile.

She smiled back, and with that they both went their separate ways.

Maybe, the fates weren't so bad, Percy thought as he went towards his hotel, they had sent Annabeth after all. She must be a goddess, or as Percy smiled as he remembered the day, a half goddess.

-LINEBREAK-

"PERCY JACKSON! GET YOUR ASS OFF THE BED!" Annabeth all but yelled. Percy groaned and turned over half of him wondering how in the world Annabeth had managed to get into his hotel room; and the other half still asleep.

"Asfghsjfcod" he mumbled in coherently. There was a silence and for a second he hoped he had won. But then he felt a breath wash over his face, and soft curls on his neck. He could imagine Annabeth bending over him, she was not giving up. He scolded himself for letting himself think she would. Annabeth Chase was persistent.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she whispered softly in his ear. It sent shivers down his spine. He could smell her lemon scent and the warm breath that played across his cheek wasn't helping either.

Percy didnt dare move, if he did he would be face to face with Annabeth, nose to nose, mouth to mouth. Not that he wouldn't like to be in that position, but the fact that he might actually reach up and kiss her, held him back. So maybe he had developed a tiny crush on his new friend. Well not that new, it had been a little more than a week.

Annabeth's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"I got food," she said in the same soft tone. Now normally, the prospect of food was really appealing to Percy. But Annabeth's closeness was definitely more appealing, he wasn't sure he could move even if he had wanted too.

Grudgingly Percy opened an eye and looked up at Annabeth's face, okay so maybe the sight wasn't the most unpleasant thing to wake up to.

"What food?" he mumbled, acting asleep even though he was wide awake, with his heart beating a little faster than normal. It may have had something to do with Annabeth.

"The doggy bag I brought from that cafe," Annabeth started off handedly. Percy opened his other eye, and blinked.

"Well..." he said.

"Get off the bed," she said straightening up. Percy missed the closeness. When he got out of bed, he was disappointed to find out she had lied to him, and had proceeded to try and get back in bed. Key word, try. Annabeth hadn't let him of course, grabbing his hand and pulling him away.

"We have two more days in Greece! Don't sleep them off," she insisted.

And because it was Annabeth he had listened and they had spent another day out exploring the city.

It was on their last day in Greece he realized something. Would he ever see Annabeth again? He froze as the thought entered his mind.

She had become a constant for him, not to mention a close friend and a crush. After they left would they still talk? still meet? Still be friends? He knew he liked her, more than a friend but he wasn't sure if she felt the same way. Would it be wise to confess his feelings before they left? He looked sideways at her, she was taking a picture of the setting sun on the horizon, that outlined the city. She turned and caught him watching her. He turned away quickly, but cleared his throat to speak a moment later,

"It's our last day," he said aloud.

"Yeah..." Annabeth sighed looking ahead of her.

"Are we...are we still going to you know,"he paused as Annabeth turned to look at him curiously, "going to be friends, and hang out and stuff," he finished vaguely and a bit awkwardly.

Annabeth tilted her head as she looked at him, it was a cute gesture.

"Of course, unless you don't want to be friends with me," she said, a bit teasingly but Percy sensed the anxiousness behind that.

"Of course I do!" he hurried to exclaim, "I was just wondering if you..." he trailed off.

"What you thought I would abandon you, what type of friend would I be," she asked, faking indigence.

"A really bad one," he answered the question. Annabeth shook her head,

"You are ridiculous!" She had said that the first day they had met too, called him ridiculous. And it was just as affectionate, if not more, than the first time.

Percy just grinned and they stared at the setting sun for a moment more before Percy turned his gaze back on Annabeth. If anything she had grown more beautiful in his mind than when he had first met her.

Annabeth caught him looking a second time. This time he held her gaze.

"Annabeth, what if I don't want to be friends," he asked her, still looking into her eyes. He winced as hurt flashed across them,

"Then no one is stopping you," she finally responded.

"Good," he said leaning closer to her. Her breath hitched as his lips neared hers, and in the next second they were on hers.

It was nothing like Percy had imagined, no that he had been imagining what it would be like to kiss Annabeth, psh, but it really was spectacular. Her lips moved in sync with his, and he tried to pour all his feelings into the kiss.

They broke apart, breathing a bit heavily.

"I was thinking we could be more than friends," he said trying to regain use of his voice.

"I think that's a very good thought," she said leaning closer to him again, "especially for a Seaweed Brain," and Percy really was gonna defend himself. He really was...if his lips werent to busy at the moment.

-LINEBREAK-

Percy thanked every Greek god in existence when Annabeth said yes. And he thanked them again when she said I do.

And when they were back in Greece for their honeymoon, he thanked the fates for that really crappy birthday morning, the one that had led to all this.

**A/N: Well? How was it?**

**Please review! **

**See ya! :)**


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